Just off the Symphony and I am so disappointed!

[jp2746]

…I spent eight hours traveling home and was starving the whole way.  Then I went into my kitchen and ordered the tuna tartare, the filet mignon, and key lime tart.  I got frozen pizza.  To top it all off I went back to my room and my bed was not straightened!  I am very disappointed.

 

Seriously, this was the best trip ever! 

 

We flew into Miami on Friday night and stayed at the Residence Inn Airport location.  It was good but there was some sort of police issue at the restaurant we were planning to go to, so it was closed (Latin Café).  It was getting late so we decided to just get something quick at this hole in the wall next door to the hotel called La Granja.  We were starving after traveling all day, but the food was awful!  Skip this place at all costs.  My husband got sick and threw up his meal and I couldn’t finish mine.  We are not picky eaters, but this place was bad.  It was also pretty expensive IMO.  My son had beef noodles and it was about $18.  This was fast food... skip it and have a bag of chips from the Chevron. I wish we would have.

 

That night I tried to get an Uber to the cruise port set up for the next day.  We were only able to get an early Uber because all the cheap ones must have been sold out at our boarding time.  It only gave me the option for a $77 Uber ride at the time we wanted.  We skipped it and just kept putting in earlier and earlier times until we got a $15.xx price.  We took it and just decided to wait at the cruise port until we could board.  We arrived around 10:45 and dropped our bags.  There was no line to get on, so we went ahead and got on the ship.  It took about 20 minutes to go through all the check points.  The first checkpoint was a younger man who looked at our passports, Covid cards and negative tests.  That took about two minutes.  From there we had to go through security and have our bags scanned.  We filled a suitcase up with water bottles, so we had to carry it on.  No issues with taking 35 bottles of water into one room.   Security took about five minutes to get through.  From there we went upstairs were we sat a couple of minutes before they called us up to scan our Sea Pass papers and board the ship.  The process was very efficient and super easy. 

 

We had an interior room, but we did the Royal Up option and were upgraded to a Central Park Balcony. It was fine but we really wanted a water room or a boardwalk room.  I went to guest services and asked about an upgrade.  They told me that the ship was full, and they added me to a list of about 20 that wanted an upgrade.  They said that they would contact us in our room if something came up.  It didn’t and the Central Park balcony was great.  It wouldn’t be our first choice but at least we were not sleeping in a closet (interior)!

 

After this we went to Jamie’s where there was one person finishing up their specialty dining reservations.  We were able to get all our restaurants at the time we wanted except for the last two nights.  Those nights we were more flexible and had dinner a little later.  We made reservations at Izumi every night (except the last two) at 5:30 for a sushi roll. From there we went to one of the other restaurants for dinner at 6:30. In hindsight, it would have been better to make a 6:45 reservation for “dinner” but after a couple of nights in Izumi, they knew our drill and got us out in time. 

 

Our rooms were ready at 1:00 and we were off.  The Central Park Balcony was great and there was plenty of room for all three of us.  My son is 6’1 and he didn’t complain about the sofa bed.  There were crickets and music at night but we could only hear it if we kept the door open.  It was so hot and humid that we kept the door closed.  I would leave it open though during a cooler time of year.  There was a small cooler to keep our water cool… not cold.  But it worked and we were happy as we also had the soda package.  Our stateroom attendant was amazing.  I don’t think we ever left our room without coming back to at the very least straightened sheets. 

 

Specialty Dining:  All of the specialty dining was really good, but our favorite was Chops.  My son really loves lobster, but we did Chops on day 6 and he had really had his fill at Hooked by this time so we all had the filet.  This was the best steak I have ever eaten.  I am still dreaming about it.  My only con with the specialty dining was that my husband said he could never go back to the main dining room after this.  So… I guess we are UDP for life. 

 

Izumi:  Good but we really didn’t find the rolls very appealing.  I don’t know why, but they just were not that good.  After a couple of tries we found the Poke bowls and Sashimi plate and that was our go to from then on.  The Poke was wonderful.  We also enjoyed the tempura veggies, firecracker spring rolls and crispy tuna appetizers.  For dessert, the sesame balls were my favorite.  The service was great, and they got us in and out pretty quickly.  We did wind up doing the prefixe option.  For $34.99 you get one appetizer, two main dishes and one dessert.  We would order that and my son would eat what I couldn't.  Most nights we did not have dessert but since I love the sesame balls, I did order that and skipped a main dish (due to stomach space which did get bigger as the nights went on…lol).  Overall, the food here was okay in my opinion, but my son and husband loved it.

 

Hooked:  The food here was okay too.  But I think it is all about finding what you enjoy.  The first night there we had the two-pound lobster, oysters and my son had the clam chowder.  It was good, but the chowder was average, and the oysters were okay.  I had oysters another night and they were better for some reason.  We visited Hooked three times.  The second time we found the surf and turf.  My son ordered two of the surf and surf (four lobster tails) and he liked that better than the whole lobster.  I ordered the surf and turf.  The steak was good, not Chops good, but good enough to order it a second time.  The desserts were okay too.  Nothing great but we sure could put them away even after a big meal and sushi appetizers.  We didn’t know anything about the restaurants.  Next time we have the UDP we will schedule Chops twice and Hooked twice. 

 

Chops:  By far my favorite.  The filet was the best ever.  The tuna tartare was another favorite.  So much so that my husband ordered another one after he finished his first.  It was one of the best fish things (including Izumi) on the boat for us.  The mac and cheese was really good and the tater tots were good too.  Really, we didn’t have anything at Chops that we didn’t like. 

 

150 Central Park:  This was a really good restaurant.  We ate here twice.  The tenderloin for two was our favorite.  We had the lobster thermidor the first night.  It was okay, but we had never had it and it was a bit rich for us.  They take the lobster out so there were pieces inside of the lobster tail with the cream sauce.  There were only a couple of pieces of lobster.  It was good, but we had the tenderloin to share, and it was so good that we fought over the last piece.  So, the second night we all ordered the tenderloin and we were not disappointed.  They had a dessert that had black current sorbet on it.   The sorbet was so good that I ordered just that on the last night.  They also had a mango sorbet that was good too.  The fried cheesecake was amazing.  There was nothing that we didn’t like at this restaurant either. Oh and the bread... I'm dreaming about that right now and my stomach is growling.

 

Jamie’s: My son and I loved the Truffle Tagliatelle.   We only ate there for lunch so I can’t comment on anything on the dinner menu, but it was good.  We had the plank and the calamari for appetizers.  These were really good too.  The dessert was okay.  The cheesecake was the best IMO but it was super dense so we couldn’t finish it even when we were sharing. 

 

Wonderland:  Like most people have said, Wonderland is an experience.  The food was okay.  Nothing amazing but good.  The service and the Mad Hatter were super fun and great for a one-night option.  We were really looking forward to the desserts.  The World looked amazing but was just okay for me.  It has a lot of dark chocolate, and I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would.  My son loved the mushroom dessert with the pistachio cream.  He said that was the best.  I didn’t get much of it as he ate most of it.  They did bring us all the desserts and a lot of appetizers.  We did not leave hungry even though everything was in small portions.

 

Playmakers:  This was regular bar food.  My son and husband had the wings, Poke nachos, jalapeño poppers and I had the ice cream in a helmet.  All were good, but nothing amazing.  We only went there late at night when there was some sort of game on that they wanted to see.  After a couple of times, they didn’t really want anything there and just went to watch the games.  We are not fast-food people and this was similar to fast food.  Not bad, just not our first choice on a cruise.  The Poke nachos were good though and if I had not been full every time we went, I would have ordered those.

 

Windjammer for breakfast:  We didn’t go to the dining room at breakfast as we had so much to do that we just ate something quick.  However, Windjammer was not the best.  I don’t like it on any ship really and the one on Symphony was about the same.  The eggs benedict was the only winner in my book.  So, most mornings it was eggs and fruit.  That was sufficient as we always had things booked for lunch and we didn’t want to be too full on breakfast stuff anyway.  None of us really like breakfast food. 

 

The Tutti Bar was not available.  I asked about it and they said that it had not come back since Covid.  😞 

 

Excursions:

 

Costa Maya was one of my favorites. It was the first time we got off at a port that I didn’t feel like everyone was super pushy.  Once I told them we had an excursion, they backed off and helped us find our way.  Everyone was super nice and helpful.  We took a tour through Native Choice.  Our tour guide Selina was great.  We went to eat lunch with a Mayan family and that was awesome.  We really enjoyed the people and the culture.  The ride to the Mayan village showed us that this place is completely dependent on tourism. There is so much poverty that my heart ached for these people having to go through Covid with no ships in port.  After this, we went to Bacalar.  There we had yummy pina colada’s and went kayaking.  It was a very fun day, and I would recommend it to anyone.  My only regret is not having any place to really shop for souvenirs.  The port shops were okay, but there were not shops outside the port like in Cozumel where you can bargain and get a larger selection of things.  We did buy something from the Mayan ladies, but we had to ask.  No one pressured us to buy anything or even tip anyone, although we did of course.  I feel like all the other ports we have gone to the guide and everyone who meets us requests a tip.  No one asked for one on this tour which made us want to be even more generous. 

 

Cozumel:  Here we did the ATV and Tortuga jeep experience.  It was fun.  Our son loved the ATV’s!  They take you on a ride to a Cenote.  We didn’t go into the water as there were tons of bats and the guano freaked all of us out.  It was such a small space and so many bats that it wasn’t appealing.  However, our guide told us all about the Mayan culture and the importance of this Cenote.  From there we did tequila tasting.  I am not much of a drinker, but I tasted a couple of the weaker options.  It was good and there was no pressure to buy.  We did buy some agave syrup to bring home.  It was really yummy!  From there we went to Tortuga Beach Club for lunch.  The fajitas were very good and we enjoyed our lunch.  After lunch we went into the water.  They were out of snorkel gear so we had to wait, but there were not a lot of fish so it wasn’t a big deal.  We just enjoyed the water for about thirty minutes and it was time to go.  I wish we would have had a little more time to shop in this port but we were able to get a few things.  My son wanted some Foakley’s and we were able to find the ones he wanted in the time we had. 

 

Roatan:  This has always been my favorite port for snorkeling.  We went with Victor Bodden for the second time.  We did the zip line option and it was very good.  The guides were awesome, and they had about 7 or 8 lines that were good.  We have zip lined in Costa Rica and I felt that it was almost as good.  I would highly recommend this tour.  From there we went to West Beach and had lunch.  I was able to hop on a snorkel excursion at the beach for $20 which was great since I forgot my snorkel gear on the boat.  They basically take your right off the shore to the reef near Bananarama Beach Club.  I love the snorkeling there.  It is beautiful and I would not miss it!  If you go to Bananarama Beach Club, you can walk to the rocks and just go out from there.  Lots to see!!

 

Coco Cay:  This was a fun port.  We enjoyed the food a lot more than I thought I would.  We were comparing it to Labadee, and it is nothing like Labadee.  I did try to find the Snack Shack to have a funnel cake and chicken sandwich but after walking around for a while I gave up.  The food at the grill was wonderful and I didn’t feel like I missed anything.  We rode jet skis on this island and it was so much fun.  I would recommend this excursion for anyone.    

 

Entertainment on the Boat:

Hairspray:  My son and husband did a lot of eye rolling at this one but I thought it was really good. 

Flight:  Again, a lot of eye rolling from the other two, but I enjoyed this show.  It was fun and entertaining.  Seriously, it’s a show on a boat.  Don’t expect Broadway.

Hiro:  Wow, this one was great!  Don’t miss it.

Ice skating show:  I missed this one.  The boys overruled me and we went to playmakers for the baseball game.  I regret it. I should have just gone alone.

Ultimate Abyss:  Super fun.  Go down it once for sure.  We did it twice.

Zipline:  We skipped this because we had done it on other ships.  But it is fun.  Don’t miss doing it once. 

We didn’t go on any of the waterslides or flow rider even though I wanted to go on the slide.  There just wasn’t enough time for it all.  I will do it next time!

 

Disembarking: We had a 12:00 flight out of Miami and I had never flown out of Miami before.  So, I was unsure what to expect as far as lines, etc.  When flying in, the airport was empty and seemed very old so I worried that they would not be efficient.  I don’t know why because they were very efficient.   We scheduled an Uber for pick up at 8:30. That gave us plenty of time in case the Uber was late or something held us up.  We had plenty of time to have a great breakfast and get to the airport two + hours early.  We just had coffee and charged our devices while we waited.  Getting off the boat took about 30 minutes so plan accordingly.  We always have very early flights and walk off first with our luggage.  This time we had to wait in a very long line to get off the ship.  They told us that our time would be 7:50 to disembark but when we got into the line it was after 8:00 and they still had not called our number.  We had to get into line as we had scheduled an Uber and didn’t get off the boat until 8:45.  Luckily our Uber waited for us after communicating with him.  

 

Overall, this trip went extremely smooth.  No issues on the ship. We did have to turn the boat around twice.  Once someone was ill and needed to go back to Miami and once because someone saw two people in the water as we passed by.  We turned around and they were rescued.  Crazy.  Very lucky people.  Seriously, we were in the middle of the ocean and someone happened to see them.   I hope they bought a lottery ticket when they got to shore!  We had no issues with flights or Uber drivers.  It was an amazing trip, and we are still mourning the end.   But I am trying to focus on being thankful for the time we had… and of course planning the next one!

 

Royal Caribbean really knows how to make a great family vacation.

[xpcdoojk]

Nice review.  Thanks.

 

jc

[crewsweeper]

Great review.  Nice prologue to lure us in.🙃  Your comments on the ship and dining are similar to our experiences.   Native Choice is a great outfit!  Glad you enjoyed that one.  Next time in Cozumel take an excursion to the cenotes on the mainland.   Absolutely beautiful.  And cold.

 

Just a word on keeping your balcony door open.  It disrupts the AC. In fact the AC will turn off. So not really cooler nor are you getting fresh sea air if on the Central Park Balconies.

[DCPIV]

Very nice review!

 

Your initial comments brought me back to my very first cruise.  It was our honeymoon, and we sailed on the Monarch of the Seas.  We went to breakfast in the MDR.  Among other things, I asked for cantaloupe.  The waiter brought two, beautiful slices of cantaloupe, and I was just as happy as could be.  I got even happier when the waiter then swiftly and expertly cut those slices into bite-sized pieces.  I loved it so much that I went back for more every single morning.

 

Shortly thereafter, I ordered some cantaloupe somewhere else.  There were a couple of nice slices sitting on a plate.  I just looked at my newlywed wife, dumbfounded, and said "just how in the world am I supposed to eat it like THAT?"

[firefly333]

I always see john gets the onion rings at play makers. Sorry not your thing to compare opinions.

 

I've used victor boden numerous times and never disappointed. 

 

I'm flying into miami and home from ft Lauderdale next march. Glad your flights were fine. I hope I'm not delayed getting off the ship as my flight is earlier. 

 

Sounds like a good time.

[lovelife]

What was disappointing? We were on the same sailing and IMO it was amazing!!

[Tatka]

6 minutes ago, lovelife said:

What was disappointing? We were on the same sailing and IMO it was amazing!!

 

Reading is a key   🙂

 

Seriously, this was the best trip ever! 

[rockmom]

7 minutes ago, lovelife said:

What was disappointing? We were on the same sailing and IMO it was amazing!!

Did you read it?  

[karena1]

1 hour ago, jp2746 said:

…

 

Royal Caribbean really knows how to make a great family vacation.

Great review, glad you enjoyed it.  We loved Symphony when we were on her.  

[ramja96]

19 minutes ago, lovelife said:

What was disappointing? We were on the same sailing and IMO it was amazing!!

 

[lovelife]

19 minutes ago, Tatka said:

 

Reading is a key   🙂

Yikes. Yes, I read some things not to the OP's liking.😉

[jp2746]

Just to clarify... Playmakers was good.  But when you just ate a Prime Filet Mignon it kind of suffers by comparison.  And we went there after sushi and dinner, so I thought  I was going to explode by the time we went to Playmakers.  My son and husband can eat massive amounts of food. They are both string beans with a super high metabolism.  I unfortunately was not blessed with a high metabolism and gained eight pounds.  There was NOTHING about this ship that was not superb.  In fact, we are planning our next one on Symphony or Harmony next year!

Edited August 15, 2022 by jp2746

[Sea Dog]

I have to admit I was worried about reading this thread by the title as we will be on Symphony in 31 days. I was happy to hear everything was good. We have the UDP and I will be doing a review of it. So that I understand this right. You made reservations everyday at Izzumi for just rolls and then a reservation somewhere else for dinner, right? No problems? There has been some confusion as if the UDP is really unlimited.  One other question, did you find any shortages of food or alcohol on board? How  good were the bars stocked? Any liquor shortages or drinks that you could not have made?

[jp2746]

24 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

I have to admit I was worried about reading this thread by the title as we will be on Symphony in 31 days. I was happy to hear everything was good. We have the UDP and I will be doing a review of it. So that I understand this right. You made reservations everyday at Izzumi for just rolls and then a reservation somewhere else for dinner, right? No problems? There has been some confusion as if the UDP is really unlimited.  One other question, did you find any shortages of food or alcohol on board? How  good were the bars stocked? Any liquor shortages or drinks that you could not have made?

You will have an amazing time!!!!!  I am jealous because I want to be back right now!  So we made reservations for Izumi for 5:30 everyday except day 6.  Day six we had reservations at Chopped at 6:00 so we had to cancel Izumi as there was no physical way to do it all.  Day seven we had 6:45 reservations at 150 CP and 8:00 at Izumi.  I was going to cancel Izumi, but my son really wanted to go, so we went after 150CP.   Every night we had a full meal at Izumi (they did, I didn't).  The Prefixe is coved in the UDP.  You can order that (34.99) and just skip apps or dessert if you want.  My son had it all and ate it all.  Then we went to dinner where he usually had two meals.  There has been some discussion about if you can get more than one entrée at the specialty dining restaurants.  Apparently there is a rule about one entrée, but if you don't push it they will bring more than one.  My husband and I never ordered more than one entrée and they only said something once to my son, but still brought him more than one entrée.  They really are there to make you happy. There were no issues at all with doing Izumi and dinner and going to Playmakers later.  

 

We didn't order drinks and only had the soda package, so I don't know about alcohol shortages.  There were tons of wines in 150CP and Chops that were in the cooler.  So I am guessing no shortage of wine! But they didn't have green tea ice cream on day one in Izumi.  But other than that we didn't run into any shortages of food!  

Edited August 15, 2022 by jp2746

[jp2746]

4 minutes ago, jp2746 said:

If you plan on having sushi first make sure you are on the boat early.  The sushi place is very small.  At 5:30 there were several open tables but at 8:00 they were full and there was a line.

 

 

Edited August 15, 2022 by jp2746

[Sea Dog]

Thank you so much for your observations. I think it would be nice to go to Izumi for sushi appetizers and then go onto another restaurant for dinner. We love CP 150 so I am going to make reservations for them on two nights. I'm planning now for Hooked  for lunch on the sea days as my wife is not a big seafood fan. Did you eat at El Logo Fresh and if so how was it? Also how were the crowds in the WJ for breakfast?

[jp2746]

10 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Thank you so much for your observations. I think it would be nice to go to Izumi for sushi appetizers and then go onto another restaurant for dinner. We love CP 150 so I am going to make reservations for them on two nights. I'm planning now for Hooked  for lunch on the sea days as my wife is not a big seafood fan. Did you eat at El Logo Fresh and if so how was it? Also how were the crowds in the WJ for breakfast?

The Windjammer was always crowded but you could always find a seat.  We did go to brunch in the dining room one sea day and the food was much better there.  The French toast was totally different from the WJ.  I was surprised that it was really good.  I didn't eat anything else as I was saving room for lunch at Chops.  We didn't eat at El Logo Fresh. It looked good but we just ate at the Specialty restaurants for lunch and my son didn't want to go there for breakfast.   Park Cafe was good for breakfast though.  Their sandwiches were really good and they had oatmeal and fruit.  That was my favorite for breakfast.  My husband and I usually ate some fruit and had coffee until my son woke up and then we would go with him to WJ. 

Next time we will do Chops for lunch and maybe Jamie's.  Hooked was good for dinner because of the lobster.  I didn't really see much on the lunch menu that looked great to us (we are seafood people!) and Chops has the filet for lunch.  Can you tell I am missing the filet????  I need that filet!!

Edited August 15, 2022 by jp2746

[lovescats5]

We loved Symphony also.  I think it was the best cruise we have had.  And I agree, that first night or two home is tough.  For us, we have genies, you could not just call and have them send food to the room.  Guess all the fun and food is what keeps us all going back and then getting a little depressed when we get home and have to settle back into our own little routine.  Can't wait to board Quantum and take advantage of our genie again and then go home and wonder why there is no food on the table.

 

[rudeney]

8 hours ago, jp2746 said:

…I spent eight hours traveling home and was starving the whole way.  Then I went into my kitchen and ordered the tuna tartare, the filet mignon, and key lime tart.  I got frozen pizza.  To top it all off I went back to my room and my bed was not straightened!  I am very disappointed.

 

 

I have the same problem every time I cruise!  🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[jp2746]

I'm trying to plan our next cruise and having a hard time finding a ship as good at the Symphony.  Next summer it looks like she is in Europe.   I am thinking the Wonder or Odyssey but they are so expensive!  We may have to go with the Harmony or Allure.  Hopefully their specialty restaurants are as good as Symphony.

 

[gingerpeaches]

10 hours ago, jp2746 said:

I'm trying to plan our next cruise and having a hard time finding a ship as good at the Symphony.  Next summer it looks like she is in Europe.  

 

She is. We're sailing out of Barcelona on Symphony next August. ☺️

[jp2746]

9 hours ago, gingerpeaches said:

She is. We're sailing out of Barcelona on Symphony next August. ☺️

I wish we could afford to fly to Barcelona.  We usually use Southwest miles to make our vacation money go a little farther.   Maybe I need to look into airline credit cards that fly more flights that are international.  

[drrich2]

On 8/15/2022 at 11:13 AM, jp2746 said:

There just wasn’t enough time for it all.

That's an impression I shared from a recent Symphony of the Seas cruise; it's a great ship with a lot of offer, but it offered more than we could do in a week. We didn't get to every last thing we'd have liked (and we didn't even do any specialty restaurants, to keep costs down and life simple), and while we did most of what I'd hoped, we didn't get all of it we wanted.

 

Talk about first world problems... We were very blessed to enjoy it. 

 

Richard.

[brillohead]

I was on Symphony in April with a friend who hadn't cruised in 30 years.  I wanted her to experience as much as possible, knowing that we wouldn't get to everything.  At the end of the week, I was EXHAUSTED!  There is simply way too much to do on an Oasis class ship to try to get it all in.  

(Fortunately, I was doing several cruises in a row, and was able to recuperate the following week!  LOL)  

[Ourusualbeach]

3 hours ago, brillohead said:

I was on Symphony in April with a friend who hadn't cruised in 30 years.  I wanted her to experience as much as possible, knowing that we wouldn't get to everything.  At the end of the week, I was EXHAUSTED!  There is simply way too much to do on an Oasis class ship to try to get it all in.  

(Fortunately, I was doing several cruises in a row, and was able to recuperate the following week!  LOL)  

You should try doing an 11 night Baltic cruise with 2 sea days and ports you have never been to.

  Vikki and I definitely need a vacation from our vacation.  It was fantastic having the last day as a sea day.

Edited August 21, 2022 by Ourusualbeach